Hope and Triple Negative Breast Cancer: Now in Paperback

And remember when your doctor told you it was an especially aggressive form called triple-negative, or estrogen negative?

“Oh, yes,” you shudder.

I suspect your reaction was like mine — confusion and terror.

Well, I was there eight years ago, and now, look what I have done. I survived. Eight years! I have seen the birth of two grandsons since then, started painting again, traveled all over the darn place, and just generally get up every day like a regular person.

And the thing is, I am not unusual. The majority of women with triple-negative survive and go on to live long, full, meaningful lives.

Notice the emphasis on hope. That’s because I know so many women are terrified at this diagnosis — they think they cannot survive. And I understand that completely.

When I was diagnosed, I went online — of course, isn’t that what we all do? And what I found there terrified me — so many stories about this being an especially lethal form of cancer, about how aggressive it is, how the odds are against you.

The reality is far less scary. Far, far less. It is true that the survival rates for the more common form of breast cancer — hormone-positive cancer — are better than they are for triple-negative breast cancer. But, still, I repeat, the majority of women with TNBC survive. That has become my mantra. Repeat after me: The great majority of women with TNBC survive.

In studies, as many as 90% of those with early stage TNBC survived. That’s a great statistic. Survival rates go down with higher stages, but even through stage 3, studies show that TNBC is highly survivable.

So, through my book and my blog, I am trying to counter the gloomy prognosis that is often automatically connected with this disease by doctors, journalists, and researchers. This is not a disease to take lightly — but in the great majority of cases, it responds to treatment.

I repeat, The great majority of women with TNBC survive. Here are some of the things I talk about in my book:

I tell my story — briefly. And I tell the stories of 11 other marvelous women who had estrogen-negative or triple-negative and survived quite beautifully. One was breast-feeding her son when she was diagnosed. That son is now past 30. Two had babies after treatment, one got married in her 50s, one is competing in triathlons. One had two bouts of TNBC and has survived the second for ten years.Wonderful women. Wonderful stories.

The core of the book is in research — triple-negative breast cancer is now the subject of some important studies worldwide, and I share the results of that research.

I explain the disease and what we know about risk factors. I show you how to read your pathology report. And I expand on treatment options. Triple-negative responds well to chemotherapy, so most women have some form of surgery, chemo, and radiation. Metastatic, or stage 4 TNBC, is hard to fight, as are all stage 4 cancers, but it is the focus of most of the current research, so I am hopeful we find a treatment soon.

I talk about things we can control ourselves — diet and exercise. And give some tips on how to maintain a healthy approach to both.

I approach the reader as a real person — I understand that she needs information and encouragement and perspective and, sometimes, a reason to laugh.

I am a journalist and a college professor, so I applied the skills I learned as a teacher, writer, and researcher to this book. Most important, I survived. And you can, too.

Surviving Triple Negative Breast Cancer can show you how and can give you the hope you need.

[Editor’s Note: Pat is selling some hardback copies of the book on eBay.]

This post was borrowed with permission from Pat's personal blog, Positives About Negative.
Pat is the author of Surviving Triple Negative Breast Cancer and the co-author of The Magazine From Cover to Cover, also published by Oxford. She has been a magazine writer, editor, consultant, and professor for more than 35 years. She headed Drake University's magazine sequence for 22 years before taking over as director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2004. In May 2006, Pat was diagnosed with early-stage hormone negative breast cancer and retired from Drake in 2007 to focus on health writing and her health. She had surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, and is now healthy, fit, and cancer-free.

Comments

October 14, 2014mythuat24hnet says:

I am excited and looking forward to reading it, thanks

July 28, 2015farmladync says:

Thanks for the encouraging words about TNBC . I have recently been diagnosed with stage 2 . Have undergone surgery , but no treatments yet . Still praying about that. Needed to hear there are some survivors . Internet is full of dome and gloom about Triple Negative . Thanks so much for sharing .